Hare Krishna Yoga, Karma, Reincarnation

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Sunday, 10 February 2013

Srila Prabhupada's Books for Amazon Kindle Review

I was suprised when I saw how little it costed to have the complete collection of Srila Prabhupada's original books, conversations, letters and classes available for the Kindle. It is available here at an insignificant £6.21 (at the time of this post) reduced from £12.45 and that even includes the 18 canto Srimad-Bhagavatam! However don't for a second think that these books are cheap, they are certainly PRICELESS and it is the pure causeless mercy of Srila Prabhupada that they are so available for all to read.

It is such a delight to be able to have all of Prabhupadas books with me all the time. The Kindle is easy to use, smart and light-weight. You can easily add notes and bookmarks so you don't loose your place and It also has added features including a dictionary and search function. The screen is really clear and the Paperwhite version has an adjustable light feature which is great for dim rooms. I've also found that I read for longer and more often than I did with the regular hardback books as its compact, always with me and the pages are so quick to navigate through. If you like reading on your commute to work, lunch breaks or when travelling, I highly recommend the Kindle or any type of e-reader. My Kindle has now become a sacred piece of paraphernalia on par with the holy books and scriptures that I keep on my alter. I often wondered, what would Srila Prabhupada have thought about his books being on the Kindle, and then I came across this passage in The Nectar of Devotion - Chapter 14.

Srila Prabhupada Says One should not give up anything which can be utilized in the service of the Lord. That is a secret of devotional service. Anything that can be utilized in advancing Kṛṣṇa consciousness and devotional service should be accepted. For instance, we are using many machines for the advancement of our present Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, machines like typewriters, dictating machines, tape recorders, microphones and airplanes. Sometimes people ask us, "Why are you utilizing material products if you condemn the advancement of material civilization?" But actually we do not condemn. We simply ask people to do whatever they are doing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is the same principle on which, in Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa advised Arjuna to utilize his fighting abilities in devotional service. Similarly, we are utilizing these machines for Kṛṣṇa's service. With such sentiment for Kṛṣṇa, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we can accept everything. If the typewriter can be utilized for advancing our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, we must accept it. Similarly, the dictating machine or any other machine must be used. Our vision is that Kṛṣṇa is everything. Kṛṣṇa is the cause and effect, and nothing belongs to us. Kṛṣṇa's things must be used in the service of Kṛṣṇa. That is our vision.

Remember most kindle covers are made from leather and so if you are using your Kindle to read scriptures then go for a synthetic material to avoid causing offences. FYI I got mine from ebay. It is made from PU 'leather' which is polyurethane, a synthetic material.